By LUIS ANDRES HENAO
Chile’s President Sebastian Pinera Echenique prepares to address the 68th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2013. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Chile’s president announced Thursday that he will close a luxury prison for dictatorship-era military officials jailed for crimes against humanity that gave them access to tennis courts, barbecues and even a pool.
The Cordillera prison, located on an army base, provides the officers jailed for killings and other abuses committed during Gen. Augusto Pinochet’s 1973-1990 dictatorship with far better conditions than Chile’s normal penitentiaries, including small cabins, hot showers and natural light.
President Sebastian Pinera said his government decided to close Cordillera taking into account “equality before law” as well as the security of the luxury lockup’s 10 inmates, who will now serve time at Punta Peuco, another special prison.
Cordillera was built in 2004 during the presidency of Ricardo Lagos to avoid overcrowding at Punta Peuco.
Former President Michelle Bachelet, who was held and tortured during the dictatorship, praised the move.
“This means that the country is in a condition to do this,” said Bachelet, who is the frontrunner in the Nov. 17 presidential election.
The privileged conditions at Cordillera have been criticized ever since it was first built. But the public outcry reached a high point on Wednesday when supporters of one of the inmates tried to organize a BBQ in his honor at the prison where he is serving a 144-year sentence.
The current governing coalition led by the Independent Democratic Union and the National Renovation is the first conservative government since Chile’s return to democracy in 1990. Members of both parties supported Pinochet’s dictatorship and several Pinochet-era officials now serve as lawmakers and mayors.
Pinera’s government has officially recognized 9,800 more victims of the dictatorship in 2011. That increased the total list of people killed, tortured or imprisoned for political reasons during Pinochet’s regime to 40,018. The government estimates 3,095 of those were killed, including about 1,200 of who were forcibly disappeared.
About 700 military officials face trial for the forced disappearance of dissidents and about 70 have been jailed under crimes against humanity.
“It’s a milestone, a right decision from the human rights point of view,” Lorena Fries, the director of Chile’s official Human Rights Institute, said of the shutting of Cordillera.
“The president said it best, it’s about equality because there are thousands of people living in overcrowded prisons…and this was a slap in the face for the law,” Fries said.
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